We’ve had it engrained into our minds for some time that backing up our files is very important. Many of us have had to learn the hard way when we’ve lost an important file or sentimental photo collection to the whims of technology. But while there are plenty of backup programs around, few of them focus on backing up your more important system information. We take a look at why it’s worth backing up your drivers as well as your documents.

On paper, it’s difficult to describe the point of Launchy.  We can tell you let it lets you launch your applications quickly, but without a more thorough explanation, that simply sounds like something Windows – especially the later versions – can already do. Launchy can be a very useful little application though, especially if you don’t like the way Microsoft uses the start bar and search functions.

TightVNC allows you to administrate a computer remotely. This might not sound like the most exciting thing ever, but it’s actually very useful program with a huge variety of usages. You can use TightVNC for anything from quick technical support to a long lasting solution for people who own more than one computer but don’t want to spend their time running between. Media Centres are a good example of this.

To call Jahshaka an editing program is a little unfair, as that will conjure up images of perhaps Adobe Premiere or GarageBand when in reality, the program couldn’t be more different. Jahshaka does it’s editing in real time and works without any of the normal complications involved with high-end media editing. It also leans towards multi user projects that can be edited together and shared instantly over the net. Impressively, it’s all also completely open source.

FileZilla Server is an FTP server program. If you don’t know what an FTP server program is, it’s a utility that lets you use your computer as a file server, allowing other people to connect to you and download your files. If you do know what one is, than you owe it to yourself to take a look at FileZilla server, one of the best programs around for setting up and maintaining an FTP server.

Foobar 2000 is an oddly named freeware music player that’s built on the philosophy of being simple but highly configurable, lightweight but powerful. If you’re fed up with the memory usage of popular players like iTunes and MediaMonkey, Foobar is a great alternative – not only does it sound great when playing music, it offers a huge level of customisation. Take a look at our full review.

Although VirtualDub’s own site admits that their software lacks the editing power of programs like Premiere, it’s still an excellent performer and one of the best options around if you’re looking to edit video, with its fast operation speed, third party support and batch processing abilities. At its most basic, VirtualDub is a program that designed to do quick and easy clean up and capture of digital video. We take a look to see just how it handles this often complex task.

Safari is a browser that exists in two different worlds. For Mac users, its right up there with Firefox, but many Windows users have never even heard of the browser. Safari has shown a very small but steady rise in its popularity over the last few years, and while it’s one of the least used of the mainstream browsers, it still packs a punch in terms of features. With Safari 4 recently released, we take a look at what Safari can do for you.